A silent conversation inside a silent place
Herbaria- magical places where one can converse with flattened flowers.
“You don’t belong here” I said softly, as I gazed upon a flattened plant. “Look at your flowers and your leaves; the other plants in this folder look nothing like you”.
“Yes, this is true; and look at the unique little hairs that I have hidden away under here” the little plant whispered back shyly; “please place me with my relatives; with those plants that look just like me, that in actual fact are me, from a different time and perhaps from a different place.”
So I gently pick up the flattened little plant, glued against its cardboard home, and take it to where it belongs. As I open up the folder, in which it will reside from now on, I can almost hear the invisible celebration from all of the other flattened plants that it joins. This new member adds something to their story, whether it’s a distinct curve in the leaf edge that has never been noticed before, or a new dot on the map that represents their original wild home. Every little flat plant matters, every little flat plant has something to say.
This is only one of many silent conversations had in an herbarium. A conversation between the observer and the observed, the conversation that becomes richer with every correctly filed flattened plant.
The flattened plants, some older than me…my elders really, wait patiently for someone to require their services. They have so much to offer, and are willing to share it all freely. Like time capsules, they can tell us about the earth and how it looked hundreds, thousands of years ago. It really is a shame how little time they are given, how little respect they are shown. The shyest story tellers they are, happy to be locked away in cupboards, in wait for those who really want to listen.
I hope that everyone can experience the peaceful joy of listening to an old plant speak; through hours of silence, filled with meaningful conversations.
Dedicated to my silent haven, the JRAU herbarium. I hope to spend more time with the flat flowers that live there.
